A blog about genealogy and thoughts about the various roots and branches of my family tree as well as the times in which my ancestors lived.Included are the West, White,and McFarland families.WARNING:DO NOT TAKE ALL OF MY FAMILY RECORDS AS GOSPEL. ALWAYS CONFIRM YOUR OWN RESEARCH!

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Friday, September 11, 2009

THE HASKELL INHERITANCE PT I

My ancestor Roger Haskell went to meet his Maker on 16Jun, 1667. (At least Ihope that was the case. But if he went to meet Satan, he at least had experience inwielding a pitchfork already.) At first the events afterward seemed to followthe normal course after the death of a husband and father in colonial times: hiswidow remarried and her new husband became the guardian of Roger Haskell'schildren and their inheritance. But all was not as it seemed, and a few years later,the Haskell family became embroiled in a series of lawsuits that sound likesomething out of a prime time soap opera like "Dallas." (only this one would becalled "Salem"!)

First, let's have a look at our cast of characters:

Elizabeth (Hardy) Haskell, the widow who made a startling statement in court.

Edward Berry, Elizabeth's second husband, accused of mismanaging the inheritanceof the Haskell children.

William Haskell(another ancestor), brother to Roger and uncle to the Haskellchildren. Did he have more than the childrens' welfare in mind?

John Haskell, Roger's grown son who sued Edward Berry for what he felt was rightfullyhis.

Roger, Josiah, Samuel and Sarah, the younger Haskell children,

and lastly,

William Dodge, son in law of Roger Haskell and Elizabeth (Hardy) Haskell, married toElizabeth Haskell the younger.

But while the inheritance of the children was one bone of contention between Edward Berryand the Haskell family, another was the land that their mother had inherited herself, and thefirst court case would be over that, as we'll see next.